Luke 11:33-36 ESV
“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
The Eye
This is talking about our lives. Who or what shines forth
from our lives? Who or what do we reflect? Is it the world? The lusts of the
flesh? The pride of life? The idols of man? Selfishness? Immorality? Dishonesty?
Faithlessness? What do our actions, words, and attitudes reveal about us?
Do our lives reflect Jesus Christ and the truth of the
gospel? Do we shine the light (truth, righteousness) of Jesus and his gospel to
the world around us? And I am not speaking of us just talking it, but I am
speaking of us living it. Are we living godly, moral, upright, loving, and honest
lives?
For, the eye of the body is its judgment, perception, and discernment.
It has to do with the choices that we make in this life. Do we make wise
choices? Do our choices prefer what God prefers? Do we choose what he chooses?
Do we have good sense? Good understanding?
Or are we senseless, living for the pleasures of this world,
doing what we want to do without regard for what God wants from us in the way
of holy living. Are we living in immorality? Are we faithless? Do we ignore our
Lord and his commands? And are we living self-indulgent lives?
The Light
Who or what is the light? It is Jesus Christ (God). It is
truth and righteousness. It is the true gospel of our salvation, not the
cheapened half-truth gospel which is permeating the church. It is holiness,
godliness, purity, faithfulness, honesty, obedience to our Lord, repentance,
and submission.
It is all that is of God and is good in the eyes of the
Lord. It is what gives honor and glory to God. And it is what saves people out
of the darkness and that delivers them from their bondage to sin. And it is
what empowers them to walk in the light, as God, who is the light, is in the
light.
If we are believing in Jesus Christ with God-given and
God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, who is the originator and the perfecter of
our faith, then we have the light of God living within us. And his life, his
truth, his love, his compassion, and his holiness are what should be shining
forth from us.
We should not be hiding the light. We should not be
suppressing the light. And we should not be ashamed of the light. We should be
walking in the light and in the love of Jesus, and we should be sharing the
gospel and living godly and holy lives for the praise and glory of God.
The Darkness
Sadly so, many people today are professing to be in the
light while they are still walking in the darkness. They profess faith in Jesus
Christ, and they are convinced that heaven is their eternal destiny, but they
are living no differently from the many who have never professed faith in Jesus
Christ.
Their lives, their attitudes, their words, and their actions
do not reflect Christ but the world, the flesh, and the lusts of the flesh and
the pride of life. You hardly ever hear them even mention the name of Jesus
unless it is in the context of a church service or a Christian song.
Their conversations sound just like those of people of no
faith in Jesus. They watch all the same stuff, listen to the same music, play
the same games, like the same jokes, tell the same stories, go the same places,
and do the same things (or similar things).
But the life of a follower of Jesus should be starkly
different from the life of a non-believer in Jesus. We should “stand out like a
sore thumb.” It should be obvious that we walk with Jesus and that he lives
within us, and that he is our Lord and that our lives belong to him and not to
ourselves.
The Whole Body
As followers of Jesus Christ, his life within us should
impact our entire being. Our lives should wholly belong to him. And he should
be Lord (owner-master) of our lives. For, we died with him to sin that we might
live to him and to his righteousness in the power of God’s Spirit.
Our lives are no longer our own, for we were bought back for
God with the blood of Jesus Christ shed on that cross for our sins so that we
would now honor God with our lives (and our bodies). For, Jesus died that we
might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us.
Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny
self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self), and follow (obey)
him, as a matter of life course. If we, though, choose to hold on to our old
lives of living for sin and self, we will lose them for eternity (Lu 9:23-26).
And the Scriptures teach that God’s grace, which brings
salvation, trains us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For
Jesus died to free us from slavery to sin that we might now be slaves of his
righteousness.
The Great Redeemer
Lyrics by Francis Foster, 1915
Music by Samuel W. Beazley, 1915
How I love the great Redeemer
Who is doing so much for me;
With what joy I tell the story
Of the love that makes men free.
Till my earthly life is ended,
I will send songs above,
Then beside the crystal sea
More and more my soul shall be
Praising Jesus and His love.
He has purchased my redemption,
Rolled my burden of sin away,
And is walking on beside me,
Growing dearer day by day.
That is why I sing His praises,
That is why joy is mine,
That is why forevermore
On the everlasting shore
I shall sing of love divine.
Glory be to Him forever!
Endless praises to Christ the Lamb!
He has filled my life with sunshine,
He has made me what I am.
Oh, that everyone would know Him,
Oh, that all would adore!
Oh, that all would trust the love
Of the mighty Friend above
And be His forevermore.
He is everything to me, to me,
He is everything to me,
And everything shall always be;
I will never cease to raise
A song of gladness in His praise;
Here, and in the world above,
My soul shall sing of saving love;
Life and light and joy is He,
The precious Friend who died for me.
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